Congressional Tax Reform Faces Roadblocks

House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) faces a crucial test in his longstanding quest to overhaul the tax code at the upcoming House GOP retreat.

GOP tax writers, seeking to be the first lawmakers in a generation to rewrite the code, already feel buoyed by what they see as newfound energy from rank-and-file conservatives on tax reform.

But while those conservatives want to make tax reform a centerpiece of the GOP’s 2014 agenda, Camp still faces many obstacles in actually getting a tax revamp into law this year – scheduled to be his last with the Ways and Means gavel.

But it’s also true that the Republicans’ 2013 retreat laid the groundwork for the conference’s fiscal strategies for much of the year, from their efforts to force Senate Democrats to pass a budget to their choice to delay a fight over the debt limit.